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<\/a>Two different chefs’ knives<\/p><\/div>\n
So the knife on top is a Henckels, which I got as a wedding present -mumble- years ago. The knife on the bottom is a Martha Stewart Everyday, which I picked up at the aforementioned thrift store for $2 last week, for the purpose of writing this post. We could get into details\u00c2\u00a0about how a knife is ground and made, but other people have said those things better than I could, and I don’t think that’s essential for a beginner. What I do think is essential to talk about is the shape of the blade.<\/p>\n
You’ll see that the Henckels knife has a straighter, flatter blade. The Martha knife curves upward more towards the point. This makes a small but significant difference in the size of item you can cut more easily. The longer and flatter your blade is, the more of it you can apply at a single time and to a larger item.\u00c2\u00a0The Martha blade will rock more easily if you’re chopping herbs, but it’s fiddly to do finer work like coring tomatoes with its point.<\/p>\n
The handle on the Martha knife is also substantially longer, though it does have a nice comfortable bolster, which not all inexpensive knives do. (The bolster is where the blade meets the handle.) We’ll get into the utility of a comfortable bolster in a minute. The point I want to make about the length of the handle is that for smaller people like myself, a long handle can get in the way of chopping. It makes the lever action of the chop longer, and can rise\u00c2\u00a0up into your arm on your downstroke. I wouldn’t always say smaller is better when it comes to handle length, but comfort is a must. Try before you buy, if you can.<\/p>\n
Now, let’s talk about the breadth of the blade and the bolster, like I mentioned before.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Henckels knife on the left, Martha Stewart knife on the right. Note the difference in the thickness of the blades.<\/p><\/div>\n
You’ll see here that the Henckels knife has a narrower bolster, but it’s nice, rounded, and smooth, and leads right into the blade, as it’s actually part of it. The Martha knife also has a nice solid bolster. You’ll notice that the edge of the blade sits a little below the bolster on the Martha knife, so there is a point there where it can rub against your hand.<\/p>\n
The other thing I want you to look at is the width of the blades.\u00c2\u00a0The Henckels blade is much wider along the spine, and the Martha blade is much narrower. I will not say that one or the other of these is better, necessarily, but they do make a distinct difference in how the knife handles. You can get nice thin\u00c2\u00a0slices from the narrower blade, with the distinct downside that it’s much more painful on your index finger if you hold the knife properly. The thicker blade tends to have cuts stick to it a little more, and it’s a little harder to get a really nice thin\u00c2\u00a0cut, but it’s much more comfortable to use.<\/p>\n
Now a bunch\u00c2\u00a0of you are probably looking at me going, “What do you mean, hold the knife properly?” How many of you out there hold a knife like a hammer? Right. So this is the thing that going to culinary school was worth it for. I’m going to tell and show you, so that you don’t have to go to culinary school for this.<\/p>\n
Below is an\u00c2\u00a0incorrect grip.<\/em><\/p>\n Hammer grip. Don’t do this!<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n Most people hold their knives this way. It’s inefficient and doesn’t take advantage of the lever provided by the bolster. Your hands will hurt, the blade will slip around, it will take forever to chop things, and you’ll wonder why you hate cooking. Don’t make things harder for yourself than they should be.<\/p>\n Pinch the blade like this.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a>